IFC grants a $5 million credit facility to Interbank Burundi to finance SMEs

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) recently approved a $5 million credit facility for the commercial bank Interbank Burundi. The facility is part of the IFC’s global trade finance programme. It will help to strengthen the Burundian bank’s private equity trade finance operations.

This is not the IFC’s first collaboration with Interbank Burundi. In November 2022, the IFC concluded a technical assistance partnership with the Burundian bank, which was established in 1993. The aim of the agreement was to strengthen the bank’s capacity to serve small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which have difficulty accessing finance and which account for around 90% of businesses and more than 50% of jobs in the country.